


We May Have Accelerated Our Relationship

by Angel_Dawn_Nimbus



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Getting Together, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-10
Updated: 2020-05-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:27:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24115753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angel_Dawn_Nimbus/pseuds/Angel_Dawn_Nimbus
Summary: Prompt: Buddie getting drunk in Vegas and waking up married.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Comments: 15
Kudos: 375





	1. What Do You Remember?

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Buddie getting drunk in Vegas and waking up married. I haven't really seen this trope yet in the 9-1-1 fandom (Bobby and Athena don't count) Massive amounts of ribbing from the firefam included. 
> 
> This was a prompt given to me by someone on Tumblr. I struggled writing this. It wasn’t coming out the way I wanted it to. I decided to skip over writing any drunk scenes as I have no idea how to write that since I have never been drunk myself. 
> 
> I don’t drink myself personally, just have never liked it in general. Other people drinking doesn’t bother me all that much.
> 
> This is going to be four chapters and I will be uploading a chapter each day as I need to edit the last couple of chapters.

* * *

Of all the places he could have fallen asleep, why did he have to choose the floor?

Why would he choose the most uncomfortable place to sleep when there was a perfectly good bed to sleep on?

The carpet was making his skin crawl.

He didn’t want to overthink how dirty the carpet was. 

“Why the hell am I on the floor?"

Also, why was he naked on the floor? Where were his clothes? 

He and Eddie had booked a room with two beds, so what reason would he have to choose the floor?

Buck finally managed to pick himself up off the floor. He didn’t recognize the hotel room. It wasn’t the one he had Eddie had checked into yesterday. 

Eddie was sprawled across the bed clutching tightly onto a pillow. 

Why was there only one bed? Hadn’t he and Eddie booked a room with two beds?

He could have sworn that he and Eddie had checked into a room with two beds yesterday.

So, why were they in this one instead?

Buck peered over at Eddie’s sleeping body.

Was Eddie breathing? Eddie had his face buried in the pillow he was clutching. Was he trying to suffocate himself? Eddie usually slept like the dead; it would usually take a lot to wake him. Like the firehouse alarm.

Buck rolled Eddie over just enough to stick a hand in front of his face.

Definitely alive.

Eddie was as naked as he was. Well, he had a sheet covering his lower half.

He didn’t remember a whole lot about last night.

His memory was coming up blank. Why couldn’t remember anything? Even just a brief flash of something.

Buck found his and Eddie’s clothing scattered throughout the room. God, had he and Eddie just ruined their friendship by sleeping together?

What if he had taken advantage of Eddie?

He felt sick, and not because of how much he had drank last night.

He was going to lose his best friend and the closest thing he would ever have to a son. Losing Christopher would destroy him. He was going to lose the best things that had ever happened to him all because of a slip up in self-control.

His throat felt like it was closing up and he couldn’t get enough air to his lungs. His hand felt clammy and his heart felt it was trying to escape his chest.

He had never had a panic attack like this before.

He needed to get out of here.

_

Buck shut himself in the shower stall and sunk to the floor.

He could feel the icy water raining down on him only to start warming up the longer he sat there staring at the tile wall.

Buck curled in tighter on himself.

Why couldn’t he remember what had happened the night before?

How could he have done something like that to Eddie?

He wasn’t the type of person to take advantage of someone no matter the circumstances.

Why now?

Buck could feel the tears running down his cheeks and mixing with the water raining down on him.

This wasn’t something he could run from.

Eddie was going to hate him if he didn’t already.

His chest still felt tight.

He couldn’t even gather the strength to pick himself off the shower floor.

Buck’s hands were shaking. He could see them trembling.

He clenched his hands into fists to try and stop them from shaking.

No. He needed to face this.

He rubbed the water from his eyes.

There was a brush of smooth metal against his cheek as he wiped his face.

No.

No. Please no.

Buck blinked a few times trying to remove the image of the ring on his left hand from his vision.

No matter how many times he blinked, it just wouldn’t disappear. 

Why wouldn’t it disappear?

_

Why couldn’t he get the motivation to make himself move?

The shower was still running.

How long had he been sitting here?

There was no way to know.

His mind had been racing. He hadn’t come up with a single solution to this full-blown lapse in judgement.

Running away from his problems wasn’t going to work anymore.

If Eddie hated him if their friendship was over.

What would he do with himself if he lost the best parts of his life?

_

Eddie was about to knock on the bathroom door when Buck stepped out.

“We may have accelerated our relationship..." Buck lifted his left hand up to show Eddie.

“Really Buck?" Eddie groaned.

“What do you remember about last night?" Buck finally found his bag and dug through it to find a clean set of clothes. Ones that didn’t smell like a brewery. He quickly put those on, he couldn’t have this conversation with Eddie while he was still naked and vulnerable.

“Not a whole lot. I think my brain is drowning in alcohol."

Buck huffed out an awkward laugh. “Do you hate me?"

There was no way he could face Eddie while asking that question. Buck tightened his grip on his shirt he was about to pull on.

“I don- What are you talking about? Why would I hate you?" Eddie didn’t sound angry. He sounded more lost and confused than anything else.

“I know you’re not stupid. It’s obvious what happened. I took advantage of you. I don’t know why you are pretending not to hate me. I would rather you just tell me that you hate me so that I can try to at least move on with my life."

“Buck, did you ever think that it was me that could have made the first move? Why does your mind always jump to the worst conclusion? I may not remember much about last night, but you didn’t take advantage of me. If anything, I was a more than willing participant."

Why was this conversation so awkward? 

“I know I made the joke before about accelerating our relationship, but we really jumped the gun didn’t we?"

“Maybe this would have gone better if we had both been sober. I don’t know if it’s just me, but I’ve been having a breakdown going over all the ways you could leave me. I never thought this could be one of them. I can’t lose you again. What am I going to tell Christopher if you choose to leave us?"

“Are you really bringing up the lawsuit again? I never chose to leave you and Christopher. Me suing the station, the LAFD and Bobby had nothing to do with you and Christopher. I just needed someone, anyone to see my side. I needed you and you weren’t there. I thought we had gotten past this?"

Buck was still facing away from Eddie.

Throughout their entire conversation he hadn’t even looked at Eddie once.

“Buck, that was never a question. I didn’t mean to bring up the lawsuit. There’s still part of me that is terrified that you are going to leave us and there is going to be nothing I can do about it."

“Why do you think it’s always going to be me that leaves? Haven’t I shown you and Christopher that I want to stay? Haven’t I shown you both enough that I love you?"

“Can you please look at me?" Eddie whispered, reaching out and brushing a hand against the side of Buck’s arm.

He needed to have some form of connection with Buck while they were having this conversation. It felt like Buck was too far away from him.

“Why? So, you can laugh in my face?"

“Buck, just look at me."

Buck took a deep breath, steeling himself before turning to look at Eddie.

Eddie wrapped his arms tightly around Buck. “We don’t do this enough." Eddie pressed his face into Buck’s neck and breathed in.

“What? Admit we’re scared?"

Eddie’s body shook with light laughter. “Hug. Long enough to just hold each other."

When was the last time he had held someone like this and be held in return?

Buck tightened his grip on Eddie not wanting to let go.

“I don’t want to hold back anymore. It hasn’t done either of us any good. I know we still have a lot to work out, but I just love you."

Buck heard Eddie inhale sharply.

“Do you?" Did Eddie sound shy?

Buck pulled back enough to look at Eddie. Eddie had lifted his head from Buck’s neck and looked hesitantly at Buck.

Buck cupped one side of Eddie’s face and smiled softly. “Not something I would lie about. But if I need to say it again; I’m in love you."

Buck brushed his lips against Eddie’s for a brief moment before pulling back and looking for Eddie’s reaction.

“I’m not good with words. I’ve always been told to hold back from expressing my emotions. Which I realize now is unhealthy. I want to be able to tell you how I feel. I just don’t know how to say it. I know I feel it, but the words just don’t feel like enough." Eddie whispered before bringing their lips back together in another kiss.

"I don't need the words to know how you feel. You are enough." 

“Why did we decided to have this conversation when we were both so hungover? My head is killing me."


	2. What Makes You Think We Would Have Married Each Other?

* * *

“You know we never actually talked about the being married thing."

Buck and Eddie were getting ready to meet back up with the others. It was nearing their checkout time, which meant they had to be packed up and out of the room in a few minutes to make it to the lobby on time.

They still had a nearly five hour drive back home to get through with the five of them in one car.

He could admit he was dreading the car ride home. 

What were they supposed to say if they were asked any questions about last night?

Buck was a terrible liar. His face would always give away that he was lying. He would blush and stammer and trip over his words before he could even get to the end of the lie in the first place.

As long as no one asked him a direction question about his relationship with Eddie, he was safe.

He was not looking forward to the road trip back home. Someone was going to ask what happened to him and Eddie last night.

At least he could say that he didn’t remember anything.

“When did we turn into the type of people who get married in Vegas?"

“Whose dumb idea do you think it was?"

Eddie gave Buck a pointed look.

“Don’t look at me. Why would you think it was my idea?"

“Well, it had to be someone’s idea."

“Changing the subject for a minute. What made you pick out this ring for me? It’s definitely not my style at all." Buck looked quizzically at the ring on his finger. It was just a plain gold band, but it definitely wouldn’t be something he’d pick out for himself. “I’m not a fan of gold."

“What makes you think I was the one to pick out the rings?" Eddie had a matching gold band on his finger.

“Why would I pick something I knew I wouldn’t like?"

“I don’t know Evan. You were drunk."

This was such a ridiculous argument they were having. It was probably just some cheap rings that they had gotten from the chapel where they had gotten drunk married.

It’s not like the chapel would of have had a whole lot of options to choose from.

“We need to go and pick out different rings. Something we’d actually both wear."

“Anyway... Are we telling the others we got married?" Eddie was picking up their discarded clothing from the hotel room floor and shoving them back into their bags.

“I think we should maybe keep it to ourselves, just until we figure things out."

“When they do find out, Maddie is going to kill you for not including her."

“Ugh. Don’t remind me."

“Where are we supposed to be meeting them anyway?"

“Just in the lobby, I think."

_

“We’re not even in the right hotel."

Buck and Eddie were standing in a lobby that was not recognisable to them.

“Do we call the others and admit to them that we’re at the wrong hotel?"

Buck looked around the lobby trying to actually figure out where they were.

“And give them more ammunition to tease us. Because you know once they find out we got married here in Vegas there is no way they are going to let up."

Turns out their hotel they were meant to be staying at was a few miles in the complete opposite direction.

“How did this even happen? How did we end up at the wrong hotel?"

They needed to meet up with the others and soon. Otherwise Buck was going to be getting panicked phone calls and texts from Maddie wondering where they were.

How did they end up at the wrong hotel?

They decided to try and Uber back to their original motel before the others realized that they were missing.

“I think I may know why we ended up at this motel..." Buck trailed off pointing at something off in the distance.

A block away from the motel they ended at was a chapel.

Of bloody course.

_

“Where have you guys been?" Buck froze when he heard Maddie call out to him and Eddie.

Please say she hadn’t noticed them coming from the direction of the entrance.

“Maddie, can you keep it down. Some of us are hungover." Chimney grumbled from where he was seated next to Maddie.

As it turns out Maddie was the sober driver.

“We slept in." Eddie muttered, leaning against Buck.

“How are you not hungover Buck?"

“Who says I’m not?"

“You’re a monster." Hen was chugging a takeaway cup of coffee and rubbing her temples.

“Why didn’t you guys get us any coffee?"

Buck tried to take Maddie’s coffee from her hands so he could just have a sip.

Maddie sent him a death glare.

“Get your own." Chimney grumbled.

“Let’s just go home already."

_

“Mr. Buckley. It says here that you checked out last night."

“What are they talking about?" Hen whispered from behind Buck and Eddie who were standing at the counter trying to check out of the hotel room they never actually ended up using.

“Well, then where did we stay last night?"

“I don’t know Buckaroo. You tell us." Hen nudged Buck, he stumbled forward into the desk. He was off his game this morning.

Buck looked over at Eddie pleadingly.

“Let’s just go. There’s no use arguing about it." Eddie gripped Buck’s arm tightly and started to pull him away from the counter.

“I don’t know about you, but I am ready to get home and see Christopher."

Eddie shifted his bag to his shoulder and started to walk back the way they had come in.

Not that the others knew that.

_

“So, where were you guys actually last night?" Maddie looked sideways at Buck, who was in the passenger seat next to Maddie as he had the longest legs.

There had been some interesting discussion on seating arrangements for the backseat before they had left the hotel, Chimney was made to sit in the middle seat as he had the shortest legs, not by much really, but Hen had called a window seat and no one wanted to argue with a hungover Hen, so Chimney was squashed in between Hen and Eddie. 

“You’d know better than I would." Buck muttered, looking out the window to keep from Maddie from looking into his eyes. She’d be able to tell he was holding something back. She always seemed to know.

“You and Eddie wandered off at some point when Chimney and I were getting another round."

“I don’t know what to tell you Maddie. I don’t remember all that much."

“Eddie, where were you guys last night?" Eddie looked startled with Maddie’s attention on him. Hen and Chimney were watching Eddie closely, trying to see if they could interpret something he wasn’t saying.

“Buck wanted to try this buffet he had heard about." Eddie hesitated before speaking, trying to avoid everyone’s gazes.

“You went and got food without us!"

“It’s not like you went and got married without us." Hen joked.

Buck went still in the passenger seat.

“Do we look like the type of people to get married in Vegas?" Eddie jokingly asked. Ok, maybe they were going to get through this car ride on half-truths.

Buck wouldn’t have to fully lie, and they’d get through this trip home in one piece. 

“I think if you did Maddie would kill you. Both of you."

“What makes you think we would have married each other?"


	3. Or Is It Buckley-Diaz Now?

* * *

“EVAN JAMES BUCKLEY!"

Maddie’s voice seemed to reverberate through the station.

Buck’s dropped his fork startled by Maddie’s exclamation. Why was she screaming for him? What had he done now?

Maddie stalked over to the table and stopped in front of Buck and Eddie.

“Or is it Buckley-Diaz now?" Maddie scowled and threw an envelope in front of the pair.

Buck picked up the large envelope in front of him. It stated clearly on the front that it was addressed to Evan Buckley-Diaz.

Buck slid a finger under the flap, carefully so not to give himself a papercut.

Buck pulled out a couple of sheets of paper.

Oh. It was their marriage certificate.

It had both his and Eddie’s signatures clearly printed on the respective lines. Along with the name of the chapel and the witness. Definitely not a name he recognized.

Why was it sent to Maddie’s address?

“Maddie, what’s going on?" Chimney wandered over confused. He had been downstairs restocking the trucks. He had come into the loft once he had heard the commotion.

“It seems Buck and Eddie decided they were the type of people to get married in Vegas anyway."

Buck looked at Maddie sheepishly.

“What did we miss?" Bobby had taken a call in his office in the middle of lunch and had only come out when he had heard the yelling.

“We were going to tell you..."

“When was that going to be? Never?" Maddie was still fuming, it looked like she was more upset than angry.

“We’re still coming to terms with it ourselves. It’s not like we went to Vegas with the intention to get married. We weren’t even together at that point."

“Weren’t?" It was Bobby this time that jumped in.

“Should have started with that." Buck muttered. “Eddie and I are now together. We wanted to tell Christopher before all of you, but Maddie decided to out us before we were ready." 

“I always thought I would be there when you got married." Maddie whispered sadly.

“Maddie, I never thought it would happen this way. It’s not like I left you out on purpose."

Maddie lifted Buck’s left hand to try see his wedding ring.

“Why aren’t you wearing a wedding ring?" Maddie questioned after noticing the bare skin.

“Eddie picked out a really ugly ring for me." Buck joked.

“How do you know it wasn’t you that picked out the rings?" Eddie nudged Buck, before turning back to his plate.

“Haven’t we already gone over this? Why would I choose something I wouldn’t like?"

What Buck hadn’t told Eddie is that he was wearing the ring on a chain around his neck. He may not like the style of the ring, but that didn’t mean he didn’t like how the ring connected him to Eddie.

Why was he holding that back from Eddie?

He knew that before Vegas he would have said yes in a heartbeat if Eddie had asked him to marry him.

Not that they had been together, but he had been ready to give Eddie and Christopher all of himself.

“So, let me get this straight. Well, not straight, but you get what I mean. Buck and Eddie got married in Vegas even though they specifically told us that they weren’t that kind of people." Chimney crossed his arms over his chest and tried to stare Buck and Eddie down. 

“I didn’t even think we drank that much. Most of that night is a complete blur. I don’t even know how Eddie and I ended up at a completely different hotel."

“Uh- what? What do you mean you ended up at a different hotel?" Hen perked up.

“I thought we weren’t going to tell them about that?" Eddie muttered furiously under his breath.

Buck froze when he realized what he had admitted. 

Hen and Chimney were looking at Buck eagerly.

“Why do I have to be the one to explain it?"

“You’re the one who slipped up."

_

Buck had been relieved once his shift was over. Hen and Chimney had spent the rest of the shift teasing and mocking him and Eddie. It wasn’t malicious or anything, but it got old really quickly. They wouldn’t let up even if they were all out on a call.

_“Do you really think we are that gullible? You two have never been subtle."_

Buck had never been the type of person to keep his emotions to himself no matter how hard he tried he just wasn’t that person. It had been harder keeping his feelings for Eddie to himself before all this had happened. How obvious had he been in relation to his feeling for Eddie?

_“It seems like no one won the bet. No one put down you guys eloping."_

What had surprised Buck was that Maddie was the only one who hadn’t put a bet down about him and Eddie. According to Chimney she had blatantly refused to bet on her little brother’s love life. No matter how invested she was in his happiness.

Maddie had always been protective of Buck; their childhoods hadn’t been the best. She would always try and shield him from the loneliness from always being left behind. She knew they both had abandonment issues to work through. Their entire childhood had been one large implication that neither of them had been enough. Maddie had run away with Doug as soon as she could. She thought she had found someone to love her. She hated that she had been one of the people to leave him, if she had the choice she would have brought Evan along. That wasn't something Doug wanted. So, Buck had been left behind again and this time it was her that had left him.

Buck had been a shy child who struggled with confidence. Even as an adult Buck still struggled with his self-esteem, he still thought he wasn’t enough. That he was replaceable.

He just needed to be reminded more that he wasn’t alone.

_-_

_“How is it that you two got lost exactly?"_

It’s not like they had gotten lost on purpose. He had never been to Vegas before. It wasn’t something that ever appealed to him. Vegas was just overhyped.

_“What was that? You didn’t get lost? What would you call it then?"_

Exploring? Maybe. Maybe they had been a little lost. Not that they were ever going to admit to that.

_“You’d think two firefighters would be better with directions."_

Again. Never been to Vegas.

_“Do you need one of us to hold your hand, so you don’t get lost?"_

Buck had been about to head to the bathroom when Chimney had noticed Buck get up from the dining room table. Were they ever going to let up?

_“Do you need a map of the fire station, so you don’t get lost again."_

Eddie had been trying to find some medical equipment to restock the ambulance with. Usually everything was in the supply closet but, another firefighter from a different shift had moved it somewhere else without letting any of them know.

_“Do you need us to hold your hands, so we don’t get separated again?"_

They had been out on a call and about to evacuate a building, Chimney had been holding out his hand waiting for Buck to take it. He hadn’t been able to see Buck rolling his eyes through the mask he had been wearing.

_“We should have never left you two alone."_ Buck and Eddie had been evacuating a separate floor to the other members of their team. Buck had fallen down a level and had to be checked out for smoke inhalation and any other injuries he may have sustained. 

What was it with all the jokes? Couldn’t just be happy for them and leave it at that?

_“How is it always you two that seem to be the ones getting trouble?"_

_“Buckley, I knew you were impulsive, but not this impulsive."_

_“Did you have to go pull a Bobby and Athena on us?"_

_“What are we supposed to call you now? Can you both be called Buckley-Diaz at work? Won’t that be confusing?"_

_“Shall we take a vote? Next time, Buck and Eddie need to run their ideas passed us first before they do anything stupid."_

_“Buck, I always thought you were a hopeless romantic. Why Vegas?"_

_“What happened to grand gestures Buck?"_

He had never thought he would be the type of man who got married in Vegas.

That was never him.

If he really thought about it, what he would have wanted was a small intimate gathering with his 118 family and his sister as guests. Nothing like what he and Eddie had in Vegas.

He didn’t know if that was something he was ever going to have. He and Eddie hadn’t spoken about the way their marriage had come about. There was something that Buck felt like had been lost when they had been married under the influence.

Something he was trying to find.

_

“What do you mean you and Bucky got married?"

Please say they didn’t just screw up.

How were they supposed to tell Christopher that they were drunk and don’t remember getting married?

How much would he understand?

Buck felt the guilt eating away at him.

“I-." Buck was struggling to form sentences. He looked over at Eddie pleadingly.

“You got married without me?" Christopher’s lip started trembling.

They couldn’t lie to Christopher. That would be unfair to do that to him.

How much could they actually tell him?

“We don’t remember getting married. We just know we did. We didn’t mean to leave you out Buddy. We never left you out on purpose." Buck lifted Christopher into his arms and held him tightly. Christopher had tucked his head into Buck’s neck and let out a sob. Buck pressed gentle kisses to the top of Christopher’s head.

Eddie was watching the pair sadly.

Where were they meant to go from here?

This wasn’t something Christopher was going to get over quickly.


	4. Can You Keep A Secret?

* * *

Maddie had kidnapped Christopher for the day, with Eddie’s knowledge of course.

Ever since that day in the fire station Maddie had been planning a surprise wedding for Buck and Eddie.

Maddie always thought if Buck and Eddie were going to elope that they’d at least have Christopher with them.

She never thought it would happen the way it did.

Buck had come to her the next morning upset that he and Eddie had disappointed Christopher by getting married without him.

Maddie had roped in Athena to help with the planning. It had taken a few moments before Athena realized that Maddie wasn’t joking about Buck and Eddie being married. She had been a little offended that they hadn't told her themselves. 

Maddie could handle the planning herself, but once Athena had heard about Maddie’s plans she wanted in.

Buck and Eddie still didn’t remember anything about their wedding in Vegas. Some things about that night had come back to them, but their wedding was still coming up blank.

Buck and Eddie deserved a wedding that they were going to remember.

It was hard not to blurt out that she was planning a wedding for her brother and his husband.

Athena and Maddie only had a few days to plan the ceremony and reception which was being held in the Grant-Nash backyard at Athena’s insistence.

Everyone thought Buck would be the type to want a large wedding since he was into grand gestures, but Maddie knew her brother.

Athena and Maddie had been planning a small, intimate wedding that was more Buck and Eddie’s style.

-

Maddie had kidnapped Christopher to help her pick out Buck and Eddie’s new wedding rings.

Maddie and Christopher walked into a jewellery store that had come highly recommended by Bobby. He had found Athena’s engagement ring here, along with their wedding bands.

“What are we doing here Auntie Maddie?"

Maddie crouched down in front of Christopher. “Can you keep a secret from your Daddy and your Buck?"

Christopher watched Maddie warily. “Is it a bad secret?"

“No, no. Definitely not a bad secret. Athena and I are planning a surprise wedding for your Daddy and your Buck."

Christopher lit up. “Really?"

“Want to help me pick out their new rings?" Maddie held out a hand to Christopher.

“Daddy wears his ring sometimes."

“The one from when he was married to your Mom?"

“Not that one. That one was different. The one where he married Bucky."

Those boys were idiots. They were both wearing their rings in some way and just not telling each other.

She knew they were working through things together, but they really needed to communicate more. They could all see that Buck and Eddie wanted more with each other, but they were both holding back as they thought they had jumped the gun too soon.

“What ring do you think your Daddy would like?"

Christopher led the way up to the counter to look for the men’s wedding bands. Christopher had stopped to look at the wide selection of jewellery.

Christopher had been distracted by the array of pendants with small animals dangling from each chain. “Auntie Maddie, look at the wolf."

Maddie gently led Christopher over to where she thought were the wedding bands.

It had taken a few moments of scanning the different wedding rings for them to find the case with the small range of men’s wedding bands.

Men really didn’t have many options to choose from when picking wedding bands.

“Can I help you?"

An older gentleman was standing on the other side of the counter.

“Hi. This may seem like a weird request. I’m planning a surprise wedding for my brother and his husband. This is their son and we are wanting to pick out their new wedding bands since they don’t like the ones they ended up with."

The man looked at Maddie knowingly.

“We’ll start with eliminating what metals you don’t want, and we’ll go from there."

“Definitely no gold. My brother isn’t a fan. They are both firefighters so maybe no soft metals."

“How about I pull out a tray and you can let me know what you think."

The man introduced himself as Peter. He pulled out the first tray that had rows of what looked like silver wedding bands. There were a few with plain bands in different widths. There were a few rings with diamonds embedded in the band in different formations.

“What do you think Chris? Anything stand out?"

Nothing was standing out to her yet. Diamonds embedded in the band didn’t seem like they would be Buck’s style. Nor Eddie’s. Eddie didn’t seem like the type to want that sort of adornment.

“No. I don’t think Dad or Bucky would want something like that."

They were even too gaudy for Maddie’s taste.

The boys were firefighters it’s not like they could wear something like that on shift anyway.

“Peter, can we have the next tray please?"

The next tray they had more luck on.

“These ones are the Titanium bands. They are more sturdy than the other metals. They are heavier, but they are able to withstand more battering than most other rings.”

Christopher found the ring for Eddie. The ring was a combination of black and silver Titanium. The outside of the band was mostly black with two small thin silver lines going right around the band. The inside of the band was just plain silver Titanium.

“This one. I think Daddy will like this one."

It was cool and smooth in her hand as she turned it over softly. It did have a bit of a weight to it. She could definitely see Eddie wearing it.

“Can the rings be engraved if my brother and his partner choose to do that?"

“Absolutely. That shouldn’t be a problem. They’ll just have to come in themselves and let us know what they would like engraved."

“Auntie Maddie. What about this one for Bucky?"

It seemed to be the opposite to the one they had chosen for Eddie. This band was mostly silver Titanium, but this one had thick black edging on either side of the band.

Maddie had roped Carla into figuring out Eddie’s ring size to make this trip less complicated. There was no way she’d be able to guess Eddie’s ring size.

Maddie already knew Buck’s ring size ish maybe, she had managed to get Buck to show her the ring from Vegas and she had memorized what the circle had looked like so she could compare to the sizes once she had picked a new ring out.

The ring they had picked out for Buck looked to be nearish to the size of the ring they needed anyway. Peter had to go out back and get the next size up for the ring for Eddie.

Peter slipped both rings into ring boxes.

The team, Maddie and Carla had all pitched in to pay for the wedding rings. Split between them the rings weren’t all that expensive.

“Remember to keep this a secret Chris."

_

Maddie and Athena were setting up the backyard. They were running a little behind which meant they had to call in some reinforcements.

Hen and Karen were checking the fairy lights that had been wrapped around the trees and shrubs in the Grant-Nash garden.

Carla was in the kitchen with Bobby and Eddie’s Abuela checking that all the food was ready to go.

Chimney was bringing out the last of the chairs to finish making up the aisle.

The backyard was done up with glowing lanterns and fairy lights. There were a few rows of chairs set up to have a makeshift aisle.

All Buck and Eddie knew is that they were having a family BBQ tonight and to turn up in some nice clothes. Meaning no t-shirts allowed.

Buck had looked at her suspiciously before shrugging it off.

The Justice of the Peace was supposed to be turning up in a few minutes. They wanted the ceremony to be as authentic as possible, even though Buck and Eddie were already married.

“What’s going on here?" Buck had wandered into the backyard.

What was going on? Was that an aisle?

“Buck! What are you doing here?"

“Uh— I was invited. What’s all this?"

“Um surprise?" Maddie muttered sheepishly.

“Are you going to answer my question anytime soon?" Was this what he thought it was?

“Surprise wedding?"

“Who’s getting married?"

“You can’t be that stupid?"

“Maddie! Why didn’t you tell me you were getting married?!" Buck had lit up and rushed to wrap her in his arms.

“Not me you dumbass. You and Eddie." Buck stepped back puzzled.

“Eddie and I are already married..." Buck spoke slowly. Buck flopped down into one of the chairs that made up the aisle.

“You didn’t get a real wedding. None of us got to see you get married. We wanted to do this for you both."

“You’re the one who has to tell Eddie."

_

Maddie stood up with Buck at the end of the aisle.

She had the chance to walk him up the aisle to Eddie, who had been walked down by Christopher.

Christopher was standing behind Eddie clutching his Buck’s new wedding band ready to hand it over to his Dad to put on to Buck’s finger. Maddie had Eddie’s ready in her own hand.

The ceremony was a blur. Well, it looked like a blur. She could barely see anything through her tears as she watched her baby brother marry his best friend.

Maddie listened to her brother say his vows to Eddie. She couldn’t see his face, but Eddie was looking a little teary from what she could tell through her own tears.

“ _I never thought we would have this. Before you and Christopher, I had always been wandering lost, trying to find some part of myself that I thought I would never find..."_

She handed Eddie’s ring over to Buck not before giving his hands a squeeze before letting him go.

_“Before you I’ve always just felt stuck. I hadn’t realized how lost I was. I’ve never been good at expressing myself. I never knew how freeing it could feel, knowing you and loving you..."_

Maddie let a sob when she saw Buck press his lips to his husband’s for the first time.

This is what they had all missed the first time round.

The expression of love they had for each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing vows is hard. I tried not to completely copy the ones I have written for my next story Growing Our Family. I need to continue writing that one. I have no idea how my writers block is going to go with that one but am going to try continue it. I have the story planned out but I just need to write it.


End file.
